Merchandise-holder.



No. 865,032. PATENTED SEPT. 3, 1907.

.1 F. GREBNAWALT.

' MERCHANDISE HOLDER.

APPLICATION FILED iVOV. 1. U06.

3 SHEETS-$113M 1.

1 w W [T/VESSES [NI ENTOR I ATT RNEYS D. F.'GREBNAWALT.

PATENTED SEPT. s, 1907.

MERCHANDISE HOLDER.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 1. 1906.

WITNESSES.-

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

INVENTOR.

y I 1 r I A TTOR/VE Y5 DAVID F. GREENAWALT, OF YORK, PENNSYLVANIA.

MERCHANDISE HOL1 )ER Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 3, 1907.

Application filed November 1,1906. Serial No. 341,617.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DAVID F. GREENAWAL'I, a citizen of the United States, residing at York, in the county of York and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful lVIerchandise-Holder, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to racks or supports for holding silks, ribbons, and other fabrics, and has for its principal object ,to provide a rack of novel, construction, wherein a number of rolls of fabric may be mounted on. a carrier and arranged within a counter, casing or the like, and each roll separately movable to display position.

A further object of the invention is to provide a revoluble carrier in which racks or other roll supports may be moved into alin ement with an opening in the top of the casing or counter, and then forced upward through the opening to display position.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a novel means for manipulating the revoluble carrier and the racks.

With these and other objects in view, as will more fully hereinafter appear, the invention consists in certain novel features of construction and arrangement of parts, hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and particularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being understood that various changes in the form, proportions, size and minor details of the structure may be made without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings:Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of a fabric display holder constructed in accordance with the invention. Fig. 2 is a transverse scctional view of the same on the line 22 of Fig. 1. Fig, 3 is a detail sectional view of the clutching mechanism for connecting the adjusting means to the revoluble carrier. Fig. 4 is a detail perspective view of one of the extensible arms of the carrier. Fig. 5 is a detail view illustrating the frictional device for holding the rolls from independent rotative movement.

Similar numerals of reference are employed to indicate corresponding parts throughout the several figures of the drawings.

The apparatus forming the subject of the present invention is designed to be placed within a suitable casing or beneath a counter, the upper surface of which is indicated at 10, said counter having a suitable opening 11 through which the rolls of fabric may be moved to display position.

The front and rear walls of the counter, or any other suitable supporting frame are provided with bearings for a horizontally disposed shaft 15 on which is loosely mounted a hollow shaft 16 carrying spiders 17 at each end. Each spider includes a number of arms, four of which are shown in the present instance, although the number may be increased or diminished in accordance with the size of the carrier and the diameter of the rolls of fabric which it is to support. Each of the arms is formed of three telescopic members 20, 21, and 22, of which the inner member 21 is in the form of a simple pin, the inner end of which is threaded and screwed into a threaded opening in the hub at the end of the hollow shaft 16. The outer tubular members 22 are provided at their inner faces with sockets 23 for the reception of the ends of rollers 24, on which the fabric is wound, and these sockets are preferably closed by small cross bars 25 in order ,to prevent the accidental displacement of the said rolls. The outer face of each of the members 22 is provided with an anti-friction roller 25 which is arranged to run on a track way 26 extending partly around the spider in order to prevent movement of the telescoping sections, except in a direction to carry the rolls up through the opening to display position and back again to position in the carrier.

The intermeidate telescoping section 20 is formed of a tube which surrounds the pin 2]. and slides within the outer tube 22. This intermediate loose tube has a projecting pin 27 which enters a guiding slot 28 formed in the outer tube, the engagement of the pin with the end walls ofthe slot insuring movement of the central tube member at the proper time during the expansion and contraction of the telescoping arms.

In order to revolve the spiders to present any one of the sets of arms and the rolls carried thereby into vertical alinement with the opening 11, a hand wheel 30 is employed, said hand wheel being mounted loosely on the shaft 15, and its hub being provided with a pin ion 31 having a clutch face 32 that is movable into engagement with a similar clutch 63 at one end of the hollow shaft 16. When the hand wheel is forced inward V and the clutch faces are brought into engagement with each other, the hand wheel may be turned and will effect corresponding movement of the spider, so that any set of arms may be moved into alinement with the opening 11.

At suitable points outside the spiders are arranged racks 36 that are mounted in guides 37, and are free to move vertically. These racks are arranged to be engaged one by the pinion 31, and the other by the pinion 38 that is keyed to the shaft 15. The pinion when pulled outward into mesh with its rack is locked to the shaft by a key 29 depending from the shaft and arranged to enter a suitable recess formed in the hub of the hand wheel 30. Each of the racks is provided with an inwardly projecting finger 40 that is arranged to pass under an arm 41 projecting from the outer sleeve 22 of each of the telescopic arms, and as the spiders are revolved, the projections 41 will move successively over the fingers 40.

In operation, the hand wheel is pushed in until the clutch faces 32 and 33 are in engagement with each other, and then the rack as a whole is turned until the rolls of fabric to be displayed are in vertical alinement with the opening 11. The hand wheel is then pulled out until the teeth are in mesh with the rack 36, where upon the turning of the hand wheel will turn the shaft and both pinions will be revolved elevating the racks, and the fingers 40 engaging under the projections 41 will extend the telescopic arms until the rows of fabric pass through the opening 11 to display position.

The hub of the hand wheel is preferably provided with ratchet teeth, as indicated at 42, and these are engaged by a pawl l3 for the purpose of holding the racks in elevated position until the goods have been examined and any quantity sold out therefrom. The pawl may then be released and the arms allowed to move inward by gravity.

In order to hold the rolls of fabric from rotative movement small iriction springs 45 may be arranged in the roll receiving sockets and the carrier may be automatically held in proper position for the outward movement of any set of arms by means of a small bow spring 46 carried by the track 26 and arranged to be engaged by the rollers 25.

The apparatus may be employed for the display of articles other than wound fabric and may be mounted in any suitable manner without departing from the invention.

I claim:

1. A revoluble carrier having article supporting arms arranged in pairs, said arms being extensible, and an operating means common to all of the arms, and with which said arms may be moved into engagement.

A revoluble carrier having extensile article support ing arms, and elevating members with which said arms may be moved into alinement.

3. A revoluble carrier having end spiders, each spider comprising a plurality of extensile arms, means on the arms to support articles to be displayed, and vertically movable arm elevating members with which the successive pairs of arms are moved into alinement.

4. A revoluble carrier having end spiders each formed of a plurality of extensile article carrying arms, lugs projecting from said arms, vertically movable fingers arranged to engage said lugs to extend the arms, and means for operating said fingers.

A revoluble carrier having spiders, each formed of a plurality of extensile arms, lugs projecting from said arms, a pair of racks having lug engaging lingers, a shaft, and pinions arranged on the shaft and engaging the racks.

G. The combination with a counter or casing having an opening at the top, of a revoluble carrier arranged within the counter or casing, said carrier having a plurality of pairs of exiensile arms, means on said arms for the support of goods to be displayed, and means for extending the arms to display position through said opening.

7. A counter or casing having an opening at the top, a revoluble carrier arranged within the counter or casing, article carrying members on said carrier, and lneans within the counter or casing for moving said members through the opening to display position.

8. In a device of the class specified, a shaft, a hollow shaft mounted therein, end spiders at ends of the hollow shaft, each spider being formed of a plurality of extensile arms, article carrying devices on said arms, lugs projecting from the arms, vertically guided racks at the opposite ends of the carrier and provided with lug engaging fingers, a pair of pinions mounted on the shaft and arranged to engage the rack, one of said pinions being slidable on the shaft, means for locking the pinion to the shaft when in engagement with the rack, and clutching members carried by the pinion and by the end of the hollow shaft.

5). In a device of the class specified, a shaft, a hollow shaft supported therein, spiders at the ends of the hollow shaft, each spider being formed of a plurality of telescopic members, the innermost member being in the form of a pin or stud secured to the hub or spider, the outermost member being tubular in form and provided with article supports and with a projecting lug, and an intermediate member having a lug extending through a slot in the outer tubular member, a pair of vertically guided racks having lug engaging fingers, pinions carried by the shaft and arranged to inter-mesh with the racks, one of said pinions being secured to the shaft, and the other loose thereon, means for locking the loose pinion to the shaft when in engagement with the rack, clutch pins carried by the pinion and the end of the hollow shaft, and a hand wheel secured to said hub or pinion.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto afiixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

DAVID F. GREENAVALT.

Witnesses E. lIuMn Tnnnnn'r, .TAs. M. WALKER. 

